Fullmetal Alchemist characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Arakawa Hiromu

Bonding Time

By Taliya

Spring of 1917

"Oi, Al, Winry, I'm home," he announced wearily, locking the door behind him.

"Welcome back, Onii-san," Al's greeting floated to him from somewhere within their Central City townhouse.

Winry appeared from the living room as he slid his feet out of his boots and hung his uniform coat on the coatrack. "Welcome home, Ed," she said warmly, leaning forward for a quick kiss but keeping her body as far away as possible.

Edward glanced down her front with a grin as he set aside a stack of paperwork on the entryway table, courtesy of his superior. "Have a new project?" he asked, eyeing the minute but fresh scorch marks on the well-worn oil-stained leather apron she wore when working on automail.

She glanced down with a self-conscious laugh. "Yeah, it's a lot more delicate than what I usually work on. How was the Academy today?"

He grimaced. "Same. I could do most of those exercises in my sleep. Not sure what everyone else thinks is so difficult about it. And they don't even have actual work to do on top of it all. They just complain and nag. Hard to believe they're my age." He unbuckled the harness that housed his standard-issue firearm, letting it hang off his frame as he stretched out the kinks in his back.

"Ed, you've been training like that since you were nine. Of course you'd think it's easy," she chided with patient exasperation.

"Whatever. I'm going to change and shower. Mind if I take a look at what you're doing later?" he asked as he headed up the stairs to their shared room, his automail foot clanking against the hardwood of the stairs.

Winry laughed. "Of course I don't mind. Find me in the work room."

Once in the bedroom Edward shucked the rest of his clothing after setting his gun on his nightstand. He stepped into the bathroom, running the water to warm it up before stepping under the hot spray. He efficiently washed and dried himself, the steam from his cleanse fogging up the bathroom mirrors entirely. He used a small towel to strip off the excess moisture in his hair, engaging in a brief but vicious war with the resulting tangles that left him cursing and snarling at the knotted strands of hair stuck in the teeth of his comb. He left it hanging loose about his shoulders to let the damp strands dry, snagging an elastic to tie it up later. Donning a set of comfortable slacks and button up, he snatched his stack of paperwork off the entryway table and wandered into the basement, which was a combination office and automail and Alchemy work room. Each one of them had a desk of sorts down there, for they spent a large majority of their time together doing some sort of work when they were not relaxing upstairs.

He spotted Al seated at his work bench, strands of hair escaping his ponytail, stacks of books haphazardly circling him, and papers with various arrays drawn on them strewn about. "Still working on it, Al?" he asked as he set his papers at his desk. He leaned over Alphonse's work table to study the sketched array upside-down. Al smiled up at him. It never failed to amaze him that they had been able to bring Alphonse's body back from the Gate, even managing to regain his right arm in the end. The younger Elric brother had recuperated well, eating as much as three people could and growing rapidly to make up for the lost years. He was particularly tactilely sensitive and attentive, constantly analyzing anything and everything he could literally get his hands on. Edward himself had grown significantly once he had regained his right arm. They had hypothesized that the additional weight had stunted his growth in the four years that he wore it, and without it his body was able to channel the energy and nutrition that originally went to supporting that weight to gaining centimeters in height.

The two brothers studied Alphonse's array in companionable silence as Winry toiled away at her workbench, the sounds of the hiss from the soldering gun and clinks from the screwdrivers and wrenches filling the acoustic void. "The theory is sound," Ed commented after a while. "And the array looks like it will work. How are you going to test it?"

Alphonse grinned sheepishly. "I was hoping maybe you could help me there, Onii-san."

"Eh?" Edward threw a half skeptical, half amused look at his younger brother. "And what exactly did you want me to do, Al?"

"Get me permission to work in the military hospital?" he asked with a bright, winning smile.

He could not help it. The enormous absurdity of the request, coupled with the overkill of the near-childish display of innocent trust had Edward nearly doubled over laughing. Alphonse joined in, pleased that his other goal of making his older brother laugh succeeded. Winry glanced over her shoulder from her work area and watched her boys with a fond, exasperated smile. Those two…

Edward headed her direction after he managed to contain his chuckles and ease the stitch in his side. "I'll ask Mustang to see if he can do something about that, but if it requires you to become a State Alchemist, consider the idea dead," he tossed over his shoulder, and Alphonse acknowledged the condition and thanked him heartily. He slid his arms around Winry's neck and leaned his cheek against hers, his five o' clock stubble lightly scratching her skin. "So what's this?" he asked softly, staring at the small metallic orbs highlighted by her work lamp and hovering magnifying glass. They had clear circular fittings on one side with wires that hung off the backs on the opposite side. Directly between these two features were four sets of grooves that equidistantly straddled the circumference of the spheres.

Winry fingered her latest gadget. "After you told me how Roy lost his eyesight, I decided to see if I could do something to replace lost vision." She lightly flicked one of the spheres, watching it roll drunkenly around the wiring. "These would be replacement eyeballs. They have small cameras within them and they would fit into the eye socket—it's like a ready-made automail port. The wires would attach to the optical nerves, and the brackets on the sides are where the ocular muscles would be fitted so they can swivel the camera and allow the wearer to see like normal."

The former Alchemist grimaced at the idea of replacing eyeballs, but nuzzled her warmly on the neck. "That's my girl," he hummed against her jawline, pressing a light kiss there before releasing her to return to her work. He watched the two of them work as he slid into his own desk, pensively comparing their various occupations. Edward himself had enrolled into the Academy after several years of relaxation after the Promised Day. This was his first year in the Academy, and here he worked and socialized with other young men and women ages eighteen to twenty-one. Aside from the retention of his status as a Major from his days as a State Alchemist—he suspected that Mustang had to have pulled some strings considering the two years he was out of the military—he was treated no differently than any other cadet. He did, however still report to the newly promoted Brigadier General, and was swamped accordingly with the paperwork of a non-Alchemist Major.

The trio had moved back to Central City shortly after Edward had proposed to Winry in Resembool. Winry had opened herself up to automail repair and construction, working out of the basement of their townhouse. Most of her customers were military personnel sent her way courtesy of Edward and Roy. Personal projects such as her prosthetic eyeballs were put on the backburner when someone needed something made or fixed. Alphonse had spent some of his time in Xing, learning Alkahestry and working out ways to combine it with Alchemy for increased healing effectiveness and decreased recovery time.

They both use their skills to create, he thought staring down at his hands, while I had used mine to destroy. While he still had yet to take a life, he knew there would be a time in his career in the military where he would be required to kill. He set half his mind to scanning the documents the promoted Major Riza Hawkeye had handed him as the other half of his mind continued to ponder. Since the age of twelve I damned myself by becoming a dog of the military. I'm already stained and marked. He looked at his younger brother, his eyes still earnest and innocent even at the age of seventeen. There's no need for him to become one as well.

The trio worked quietly on their own projects until the faint chime of the grandfather clock in the hall drifted down to them, announcing the seventh hour in the evening. They each wordlessly wrapped up for the evening and made their way to the kitchen, where earlier that afternoon Alphonse had prepared stew. Edward tied up his now dry hair and helped Alphonse set the table as Winry ladled out three bowls. They ate and chatted aimlessly, discussing anything and everything that came up. After cleaning up, Edward and Winry settled in the living room while Alphonse went upstairs to take a shower. Edward lay stretched out on the couch with his head in his fiancée's lap, and Winry gently tugged off the elastic so that she could card her fingers through his long, silky strands.

Edward hummed appreciatively. "I always like it when you do that," he murmured, eyes closed.

Winry giggled. "It does feel good, doesn't it?"

They remained that way, Edward soaking up Winry's tender ministrations before a thought popped into his head. "You think Al would like the feel of this?"

"Hmm?" she responded, mentally not quite on the same page. "Al?"

Edward reddened a little. "I mean, if you offered to comb his hair. Do you think he'd like it, considering how much he responds to touch?"

Winry regarded him thoughtfully. "I think so." She paused, reprocessing his words. "Wait, why me?"

"Because you're a girl," Edward said as though it was obvious.

She frowned warningly at him. "Thank you for noticing," she said with a small bite in her voice. "But why don't you do it? It's your suggestion after all."

Edward sputtered for a bit. "Because… because I'm a guy!"

"Yes, I had noticed a long time ago, brilliant soon-to-be husband of mine," she returned dryly. "But he's your brother."

He scowled petulantly, realizing he was backed into a corner. "Guys don't do that."

Winry grinned sympathetically at him. "Perhaps, but neither of you are 'most guys'. You've both seen and done things most people will never even imagine their whole lives. You two obviously mean the world to each other. I don't find it strange at all. I actually think it's rather adorable that you think about these kinds of things for Al." They heard the water stop running, indicating that Alphonse had finished his shower. Winry gently nudged Edward off her lap. "I'll grab a comb, but you're going to do it." She was up the stairs before he had gathered his relaxed and scattered wits to protest.

Alphonse soon came down the stairs, dressed in comfortable sweats and rubbing a towel to his head. Winry followed, Alphonse's comb in her hand. "You sit here," she said to the younger Elric, pointing at the sofa with his comb. "Ed, up and behind the couch."

"Winry…" Edward complained by drawing out the syllables of her name, even as he scooted his feet off the cushions to make room for his brother.

"Up, Ed," she repeated, unmoved.

"Please?" Alphonse added, and Edward caved immediately.

"Fine," he grunted with bad grace, snatching the comb from his smug fiancée's hand and situating himself behind Alphonse. "Let me know if anything hurts." He slid the teeth of the comb into his brother's hair, applying a light, even amount of pressure from scalp to tip. Any snarls he encountered were gently teased apart with an unexpected amount of patience. After several minutes Alphonse's hair shone like molten gold, the teeth easily gliding through the strands. Even then, Edward continued to comb his brother's hair, understanding how relaxing the feeling was and pleased to be able to pass on the small favor.

Winry had settled herself on the other end of the couch, watching the interaction between the pair with an affectionate smile. Alphonse had his eyes closed, savoring the sensation of the gentle massage to his scalp. Edward also had a small smile on his face as he silently acknowledged his brother's unspoken appreciation.

"I like that," Alphonse admitted quietly after a period of time, his voice a drowsy-sounding purr of contentment. Edward finally set the comb down, handing it back to his brother. Alphonse glanced up at Edward, who still stood behind him. "Could you—could you do that again sometime?" he asked, uncertainty in his voice.

Edward snorted with a grin as he looked away. "Yeah, just let me know."

Winry simply wished she had a camera to capture the moment.

Onii-san – Older brother

Author's Note: Just a snapshot of the comfortable domesticity between the three of them. My inspiration came from the fact that if you comb my hair right after my shower, I will metaphorically purr like a cat and melt into a blissful puddle of goo (good thing my exes never figured that one out!). Got me thinking about Al's reclaimed body and his potential sensitivity to touch, and voilà! this fic appeared. I hope you enjoyed it.

Completed: 25.11.2013